A PLANNING application for a supermarket chain to install a new illuminated sign has been under fire from Burnham and Highbridge Town Council after it was given the go-ahead.

Supermarket giant, LIDL submitted a planning application in October this year to erect an internally illuminated totem sign just outside their Burnham-on-Sea store. 

However, Sedgemoor District Council have received objections to the plans from the town council and Burnham residents who have fears that the new sign, which is 2.6 metres wide and will have 40 centimetre tall lettering, could hamper visual amenity of surrounding properties and affect visibility for motorists. 

Burnham and Highbridge Town Council Clerk, Lorna Williams said: "We have received a number of objections from the town council and from residents.

"The council members objected to the proposal because they feel that further illumination from the sign would be a detriment to the visual amenity of surrounding properties.

"Multiple residents have also objected to the proposal and have fears over the new totem pole panels and their illumination."

But chairman of Sedgemoor District Council, Bob Filmer said there is no need for the public to be concerned.

He said: "The reason that the application came to us is because the town council objected to it.

"There is already a big sign there already but it is not as illuminated as the plans for this sign were.

"We discussed the proposal and some councillors and residents expressed their worries over it hampering the visual amenity of the surrounding area.

"Initially they thought they were going to light the whole sign up but this is not the case.

"I would like to reassure residents that there should not be any greater lighting coming from the sign once it is built."

Sedgemoor District Council approved the plans on November 8 but has placed several conditions on the store in the hope that it will not be disruptive to the community. 

The council have stated in their decision that the new sign must not endanger motorists using Oxford Street by obscuring traffic signs or speed cameras and that the sign should be maintained continually so it does not impair the visual amenity of the site.